


Under the Morning Glow

by Shana_Rose



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gwen Elyan Morgana & Gwaine make an appearance, Idiots in Love, M/M, They are both oblivious idiots, and they were ROOMMATES, college students, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28762845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shana_Rose/pseuds/Shana_Rose
Summary: He had just barely made it to his bus on time. It was only after he sat down by the window and took a moment to catch his breath that it hit him.He kissed Arthur. Merlin kissed his flatmate/best friend.Merlin had to cover his mouth to stop himself from cursing loudly on the bus.-Merlin and Arthur accidentally kiss and spend the rest of the day freaking out about what it means.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 288





	Under the Morning Glow

**Author's Note:**

> Once again thank you to my wonderful beta [Treeni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treeni/pseuds/Treeni/works) for looking this over for me! <3

Merlin groaned as he pulled the heavy comforter over his head, trying to block out the insistent beeping. He was nearly back to sleep when it finally dawned on him what the sound was. His alarm.

“FUCK!” Merlin shouted, scrambling out of bed, and yup, it was nearly ten, he was going to be late for his history lecture.

Merlin repeatedly swore as he pulled his clothes out of the dresser not even caring what he threw on.

The raven-haired man hopped out of his room still pulling on his trainers as his laptop bag swung hazardly over one shoulder. He shook his head trying to rid himself of the fog in his mind, while Merlin’s brain was technically awake it still felt very disjointed and fuzzy like when you wake up mid-dream.

He glanced at his phone and cursed. He didn’t even have time to wash his face to wake himself up, let alone eat breakfast.

“Here.” A hand shot up in front of him holding a to-go mug, and Merlin had never felt so thankful for his best friend/flatmate Arthur in his life.

Arthur was clearly not awake either, Merlin thought as he glanced at his friend. Arthur's shoulders were slumped back in his bright red hoodie and rumpled black pajama pants, his eyes barely open. Merlin couldn’t help but feel warmed by his action. It wasn’t the first time his insufferable best friend had gone to the trouble of making him coffee but it certainly didn’t happen often.

The gesture, especially nice since Arthur didn’t have class until two today and normally didn’t get up till noon on Thursdays.

Merlin yawned, still half-sleep himself which is probably why he impulsively did what he did next.

He grabbed the mug and then leaned over and kissed Arthur square on the lips.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough for Merlin to hear Arthur hum pleasantly against his lips. It reminded him of the way Arthur always hummed after he woke up from a good nap or when he was drinking a particularly good cup of tea.

Merlin pulled away, smacked his lips sleepily, and added without thinking too much about it, “Thanks love.”

Arthur grunted but then leaned over, his eyes still heavy with sleep, and kissed his cheek. “Yeah, yeah. Love you too.”

Merlin’s almost out the door when he called back, “I’ll pick up takeaway tonight.”

“Get out of here you loon. You’re already going to be late as it is.” Merlin could hear the morning gruff in Arthur’s voice as he said it.

Merlin ducked his head and laughed as he ran out.

He had just _barely_ made it to his bus on time. It was only after he sat down by the window and took a moment to catch his breath that it hit him.

He kissed Arthur. Merlin _kissed_ his flatmate/best friend.

Merlin had to cover his mouth to stop himself from cursing loudly on the bus.

* * *

Arthur has always had vivid and realistic dreams.

He never dreamed of fanciful things like dragons or clouds that taste like cotton candy but normal everyday things, like going to the grocery and buying ham or finding his lost pair of socks. Dreams so realistic that when he awoke it sometimes took him a moment to realise they did not actually happen.

So, when he heard Merlin shouting in the other bedroom, he didn’t really think much of it. He thought he was still dreaming, after all, it was not the first time this particular dream scenario had happened. Merlin was always hitting the snooze button on his alarm and it was also not uncommon for Arthur to realise that he was inside a dream.

Arthur groaned as his body sat up on his own account but like with most of his dreams, he just went with it. He let the dream take control.

Not thinking much of it, he threw on his favorite red hoodie and walked into the kitchen to start the coffee machine.

While the machine started on the coffee Arthur shuffled over to the cabinet on his right and pulled out the white to-go cup with the words _toss your coin to your witcher_ in bold lowercase font, Merlin’s favorite. His body automatically yanking the refrigerator open to grab Merlin’s favorite creamer.

The machine dinged and Arthur yawned as he poured the coffee into the mug.

He didn’t even look up as Merlin burst into the room already swearing loudly. It did make him smile though.

Arthur placed the lid on the mug and walked over to Merlin. “Here.”

He vaguely wondered when this dream would end and the next would start when Merlin’s lips pressed against his.

The kiss isn’t long but long enough for Arthur to enjoy it. It makes Arthur think of lazy afternoons, of waking up to the sun slowing unfolding on you, of snuggling into a fluffy blanket next to a warm fireplace in winter.

It didn’t feel like a first kiss but one they had done a thousand times before. It’s that thought that had Arthur relaxing into the kiss, humming contently against Merlin’s lips.

Another second passed before Merlin pulled away and Arthur had to restrain himself from following after Merlin’s retreating lips.

Arthur licked his lips, the back on his mind reminding him that Merlin was late for something as his best friend said, “Thanks love.”

Merlin’s voice is still soft and gruff from sleep and the sound does strange things to Arthur’s heart, but even in the dream, Arthur can’t let Merlin win so instead he grunted out, “Yeah, yeah. Love you too.”

And then Merlin was out the door, leaving Arthur to go back to the kitchen and clean up. Not paying much attention to his surroundings in his sleep induced state Arthur moved too close to one of the bottom cabinets and stubbed his left toe.

“BLOODY HELL!” Arthur cursed, his face scrunched up in pain.

It was at that moment that Arthur realised he was decidedly _not_ dreaming.

Arthur’s jaw snapped shut and he breathed deeply through his nose before letting out a groan. His hands over his face he whispered to himself, “Oh, oh god. Oh god no.”

Not only had he and his best friend just kissed and he had _liked_ it, but Arthur had told said friend he _loved_ him.

And the worst part of all? Him realising he _meant_ it.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Arthur moaned because this is not how he wanted to realise he was in love with his best friend.

* * *

Physically, Merlin was in his history lecture but mentally he was screaming into a void.

His hand copied everything on the board verbatim, but he heard nothing. It was all white noise. If his professor had called on him at any point during the seminar, Merlin wouldn’t have known because all he could think about was that he kissed Arthur. _Arthur._

“…lin. Merlin!”

Merlin was jerked out of his thoughts by someone shaking his shoulder. “What?”

His dear friend, Gwen, frowned at him, clear concern on her face. “Merlin class ended five minutes ago.”

“Wait really?” Merlin said as he looked around the room and sure enough, the only people still in the room were him, Gwen, and a few students asking the professor questions.

Gwen crossed her arms around her book. “Okay. What’s wrong?”

“Ummm,” Merlin glanced around while the room was nearly empty, he would still rather not talk about it here. “Let’s go grab lunch in the courtyard yeah? I promise I’ll tell you then.”

Unfortunately for Merlin, it did not take long to get their food and find a table outdoors.

“Merlin stop avoiding the subject, you promised!” Gwen scolded as she pointed her fork at him from across the picnic table.

“Yeah well, that was before I knew Elyan would be eating with us,” Merlin said, twirling his fork around his pasta.

Elyan swallowed down some fruit and frowned. “Oi! You invited me you tosser!”

Merlin groaned as the two stared him down. “Okay, fine, you win!”

They grinned and high-fived. He truly regretted befriending the Smith siblings. They were already impossible to say no to separately but together they were unstoppable.

“Soooo this morning I woke up late and I was rushing to get my things, and um, honestly I was still half asleep and….”

“And what?” Elyan asked as he looked at something on his mobile.

“And I maaaaay have kissed Arthur. On the lips.” Merlin said refusing to look his friends in the eyes.

“WHAT?!” “OH, MY GODS MERLS!”

Merlin groaned, dropping his face into his hands. “I know I know! I honestly don’t know what came over me!”

“HA! I KNEW you liked Arthur! I knew it!” Gwen cheered.

Merlin frowned as he lifted his face off his hands. “What? No, I don’t.”

Elyan groaned. “Are you serious? You bloody kissed the man!”

“That’s why it was so weird! I have no idea why I did that!” _Or why I called him love._

Gwen took a deep breath out of frustration before she asked, “Okay, okay. What were you two doing before then? Like right before you kissed him.”

“Nothing romantic! He just- just gave me some coffee.”

“Coffee?” Elyan asked slowly with one eyebrow raised as if there was something Merlin wasn’t telling them.

“Just coffee I swear!” Merlin said frantically before he started blabbing, “It was coffee in a to-go mug. I don’t think he even had any coffee himself yet, after all, he doesn’t have class till two. He shouldn’t even have been up! But he must have heard me shouting when I woke up and decided to make some for me.”

Merlin couldn’t help the small smile on his face as he remembered a very sleepy Arthur holding up his favorite mug for him. “It was quite cute really. He was holding up my favorite mug and could barely keep his eyes open. And his hair was all messed up from his pillow, and he was wearing that big red hoodie he loves so much and-” Suddenly it hit him, and his jaw dropped.

“And what Merlin?” Gwen said smiling ridiculously with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Elyan joined in, smiling far too smug for Merlin’s liking. “Yeah Merlin, what were you going to say next hmm?”

Merlin’s heart fluttered as he remembered Arthur in that moment. Ridiculously sleepy and relaxed and happy. And in that moment, Merlin just had to kiss him. It was as if the universe had been pulling him towards Arthur.

“Bloody Hell! I love Arthur,” he said in horror.

“YES!” Elyan shouted, his hands shooting up into the air in victory before hi-fiving his sister. “FINALLY!”

Gwen grinned gleefully and nodded, “It’s about time you realised it!”

“Wait you knew!? Why didn’t you tell me!”

Gwen scoffed. “You kept brushing us off and saying you and Arthur were just friends.”

Merlin slammed his head onto the table and groaned.

Gwen and Elyan shared a look before Gwen cautiously asked, “So what did he do?”

“What?”

“What did Arthur do when you kissed him?”

Merlin shot back up and gasped, “Oh my god!”

“What?!” They both cried.

Merlin bit his lip. “I was so focused on the fact that I kissed him that I never stopped to think about his reaction.”

“Which waaas?” Elyan asked.

He opened his mouth and closed it once before he spoke. His ears turning red as he said, “He, that is I think he kissed me back?”

Gwen squealed in delight.

“Wait what do you mean you think?” Elyan asked, his arms crossing against his chest. “Either he did or didn’t.”

Merlin threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know! It all happened so fast! One minute he’s giving me coffee and then I’m kissing him and he’s humming and then I’m calling him love and then-” He took a breath, “And then he kissed me on the cheek and said love you too.”

_Oh my god, Arthur had said “love you too.”_

“WHAT!” They screamed, much louder than the other times and Merlin was glad they were outside.

“Ummmm, so I believe his exact words were, ‘yeah yeah love you too.’ But that was after I said, ‘Thanks’ and um, called him love.”

Just saying it out loud was making his brain explode and suddenly words were flying out of his mouth, “What do you think he meant by that? Like did he mean it as friends? Like love you too mate, or like as _more_ than friends? Like does he has feelings for me? Or was he just sleepwalking and thought I was someone else?!”

“Holy shit!” Gwen whispered out loud.

Elyan pressed his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose. “Okay, okay, that was- um. That’s a lot of stuff you failed to mention. I’m going to need a moment to process all of this.”

Merlin nodded. He was still processing it himself.

Gwen drummed her fingers across the table. “Okay, you said he gave you coffee, you kissed him, and then he hummed?”

He nodded.

“Okay, when exactly did he start humming? During the kiss? After the kiss?” She paused. “Either way that’s a good sign.”

Elyan pointed at Gwen, “She’s right Merlin, that’s a very good sign.”

“But what does it MEAN!?” He questioned frantically.

The siblings shared a look, Gwen sighed. “I don’t know Merlin, but you know who would?”

“Don’t say, Arthur.”

Gwen smirked widely at him. Clearly enjoying this far too much as she replied with relish, “Arthur.”

The raven-haired man only groaned.

* * *

Arthur swore under his breath as he ran over to his sister and their friend Gwaine in the quad.

“Have you seen Leon?” He asked, slightly out of breath. Arthur just spent the last half hour running all over campus looking for the man. (Except for Simmons Hall, in case Merlin’s course ended early).

“He’s out sick today,” Morgana said not looking up from her book.

“FUCK!” He shouted, not caring who heard.

 _This was a bloody disaster_ , Arthur thought. He desperately needed advice about this morning and there was no way he could ask Guinevere with her being in the same lecture as Merlin right now!

“What’s wrong, princess? One short for a game of footie?” Gwaine teased, looking up from his mobile.

“No, and it’s none of your business.”

The moment he said it he knew it was a mistake.

Morgana and Gwaine looked at Arthur and grinned like the evil harpies they were. _Yup,_ Arthur thought _, definitely a mistake_.

“Now, now dear brother, what could possibly be so important that you need to talk to Leon?” She said, her voice full of mockery and delight at his clear uneasiness.

Arthur pressed his lips firmly together, “It’s nothing.”

Gwaine snorted. “Oh well, that explains why you shouted fuck a minute ago and are clearing hiding something.”

He sighed deeply, “You guys aren’t going to let me out of this are you?”

“Nope.” “Not a chance in hell.”

Ugh, he was surely going to regret this. “Right, if I tell you two do you both swear not to say anything to anyone else?”

Morgana pursed her lips and side-eyed him, “Define anyone else.”

“Nope, I’m leaving,” Arthur said and turned to walk away when a hand-pulled his back with a full laugh.

“Come on Arthur, Morgs is obviously joking.”

She flipped her dark hair off her shoulder and scoffed. “Gods something must be really wrong if you can’t even take a bloody joke. Now come sit down Artie and tell us what’s wrong.”

The blond looked at them both and sighed. He truly wished Leon was here. Arthur took the seat next to Gwaine.

Deciding to just get it over with he bluntly said, “Merlin and I kissed.”

Gwaine shot up out of his seat and roared, “YES! IN YOUR FACE MORGANA!”

Morgana cursed, then glared at Arthur. “Fucking hell, you two couldn’t wait another month!”

He blinked. “What, the _hell_ is going on?”

Gwaine grinned as he sat back down and messed up Arthur’s hair. “What’s going on is that your sister owes me fifty quid.”

She growled as she pulled out her wallet and tossed the cash in Gwaine’s face. “You two couldn’t wait till the semester was over?”

Arthur pressed both of his hands over his face. “I feel like I’m having a stroke.”

Morgana groaned. “Gods you are such a drama queen. Gwaine and I had a bet on when you and Merlin would stop being morons and finally suck face.”

“What-!” He frantically tried to find the words. “HOW?”

Morgana frowned, “How what?”

“How the hell did you know I liked Merlin?! _I_ didn’t even know until this morning when he _literally_ kissed me.”

His evil sister scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course, _you_ wouldn’t know, you’re an idiot.”

Gwaine, the bloody arse he was, was laughing. “Oh my god! Morgana said you were oblivious, but I honestly didn’t think you’d be that oblivious!”

“I hate you both, this is exactly why I wanted to talk to Leon.”

Gwaine took a deep breath to calm himself. Still chuckling he asked, “Alright so what’s the problem?”

Arthur sighed. “The problem is that Merlin kissed me when he was half-asleep, rushing off to class and I am not sure he realised what he was doing or who he was kissing when he did it.”

Morgana frowned. “Explain.”

“You know what Merlin’s like. He’s always been rather affectionate.” Arthur sighed waving his hand in the air, “I’m worried that in his pre-coffee state he was acting on muscle memory. That if, say you or Gwaine theoretically had been the ones to give him the coffee he would have kissed one of you.”

“Oooh.” Gwaine grimaced. Which was not helping.

His dark-haired sister bit her lower lip before answering, “You don’t know that for sure.”

“He said thanks love and then rushed out the door.”

“Why not play it off? You know tease him about it when you get home tonight and see how he reacts.”

“Yeah, that’s-that’s not possible.” Arthur winced. He scratched his cheek trying and failing to seem nonchalant about it.

“Why not?” Morgana asked, one eyebrow peaked up in interest.

Arthur huffed, “I kissed him back.” _And hummed into the kiss_ , but they didn’t need to know that.

Morgana stared him down. “You’re leaving something out.”

Arthur blushed and silently swore. Why couldn’t he have been an only child? “I may have made a, a sound during the kiss.”

Gwaine snorted and Morgana made a disgusted face.

“Oh god! Not that kind of sound! I just bloody hummed okay!” This was without a doubt the worst moment of his life.

Gwaine placed his index finger against his mouth. “So to sum everything up, you don’t know if Merlin meant anything by the kiss but Merlin now knows you liked the kiss because you hummed.”

“Correct.”

“Right, well there’s only one way out of this,” Gwaine said and clapped him on the back. “You have to suck it up and talk to him.”

Arthur looked at Morgana, his eyes pleading with her to give him another option.

She gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry Artie, but he’s right.”

Arthur slumped back into his chair and nodded gravely as if they had just doomed him to death. Which as far as he was concerned, they had.

* * *

Merlin took a deep breath as he stood outside their flat.

 _Right, you got this. All you have to do is unlock the door and go in and… talk to Arthur,_ he said to himself.

Right, maybe he couldn’t do this.

The raven-haired man reminded himself of what Gwen had pointed out, that at the very least Arthur hadn’t hated the kiss. Worst case scenario, Arthur wasn’t interested in anything other than friendship, and seeing that Arthur didn’t seem to hate kissing him maybe he could get away with snogging him at Gwaine’s annual holiday party. After all, Merlin usually ended up drunkenly kissing at least one person at that party every year, maybe this year it could be Arthur.

With that thought, Merlin finally walked into the flat. The first thing he saw was Arthur. He was sitting at the table with his notes scattered across the surface in front of him. His face set in a scowl, which only happened when the blond was having a difficult time concentrating.

The sight of Arthur made his heart jump. It was funny how obvious his feelings were now. Looking back, he had always paid extra attention to him. To every little eye roll, to how he moved across a room, to all his little smiles, to all his little quirks and oddities. Every little thing that made him Arthur.

As he stepped into the room Arthur glanced up and gave him a tight smile that seemed nervous and shy and a tad bit hopeful but maybe Merlin was imagining that. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Merlin said back. His smile a bit nervous too. “Grabbed us some Thai food tonight. Hope that’s okay.”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Right, um I’ll just put it on the table then,” Merlin said, feeling rather like a fish out of water. The only consolation was that Arthur seemed to be feeling the same.

Arthur stood up and grabbed his various notes off the table. “Right, let me move these.”

The blond stood awkwardly looking around the room for a place to put them when he and Merlin locked eyes.

Maybe it was the awkwardness or the way Arthur’s shoulders were hunched up or maybe, maybe it was the fact that after three years of friendship this was the first-time things had ever been awkward between them, but they looked at each other and just started laughing.

From the moment they had met, things had just clicked. They had gone from strangers to life-long friends in a matter of hours. They got along so well that people were always surprised that they weren’t childhood friends or dating.

They laughed so hard that they were out of breath and Arthur’s notes were scattered on the floor.

“God, I have never seen you look so fucking awkward before,” Merlin said, as he gasped for air.

Arthur huffed, still out of breath himself as he leaned down to pick up his notes. “Well, I would say the same, except you’ve always been a bit weird and awkward.”

Merlin shoved him lightly. “Piss off.”

The blond grinned widely, his face beaming and Merlin’s heart leaped up into his throat.

“Arthur…” Merlin said softly.

Arthur’s bright smile fell. He sighed. “Yeah, we should talk.”

With a shaky breath, Merlin started talking. “Right about this morning. About the kiss, Arthur I-”

Arthur raised his hand firmly up to stop him from talking. Arthur shook his head, “No Merlin before you said anything please let me.”

Merlin opened his mouth, but Arthur gave him a stern look. Merlin sighed but nodded for Arthur to go on.

Arthur cleared his throat and decided to just go for it. “I realise that you were half-asleep when you kissed me this morning and that it was probably just muscle memory or something, but I want you to know that my, um, _reaction_ was genuine. I, I like you. A lot. But if you don’t feel the same I under-” Arthur's sentence was cut off by Merlin’s lips pressed against his, his long slender arms curling around Arthur’s neck.

It took Arthur a moment to register what had happened but a second later he was kissing him back with gusto, his hands dropping his notes once more and instead grabbing hold of Merlin’s waist and pulling him closer.

Merlin couldn’t help but chuckle cheerfully against Arthur’s lips, breaking the kiss. He pressed his forehead against Arthur’s, their noses brushing as he said, “I like you too, for the record.”

“Yeah?” Arthur whispered his voice full of mirth.

“Yeah,” Merlin whispered back blissfully.

Arthur pressed a light kiss against his lips and then moved his forehead back against Merlin’s. They just stood there on top of Arthur’s notes, enjoying each other’s embrace as their Thai food went cold, too happy to even care.

* * *

Arthur was laying on his side, his head against Merlin’s pillow in pure bliss as he stared at the beautiful, naked man still asleep next to him. It was still early in the morning, the sun just peeking through the windows.

It was odd but enthralling waking up in Merlin’s bed this morning. Arthur bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, remembering how they argued last night over whose bed they would sleep in before ultimately flipping a coin.

He reached over and gently brushed one of Merlin’s curls away from his forehead and a tender look graced Arthur’s face.

How wonderful this all was, that this would be his life now. Waking up together, playfully arguing over silly things together, eating cold takeaway because they were both too lazy to warm it up after snogging, or maybe from shagging _(that particular thought sent a thrill through his body)._

His attention snapped away from his thoughts as Merlin sleepily said, “Stop staring at me you weirdo.”

A deep rumble came out from Arthur, his face full of affection as he chuckled. “Hmm no, not possible. Turns out my boyfriend is surprisingly handsome in the morning.”

Merlin beamed at him and reached over to pull Arthur closer. “Is that so?”

Arthur leaned forward, his nose brushing against Merlin’s. “Uh-huh.” He pecked his boyfriend on the lips, then added, “It’s also the only time he ever shuts up.”

He laughed as Merlin smacked his arm.

Merlin glared at him and grumbled out, “We haven’t even been dating a full day yet and already you are insulting me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, who called who a dollophead last night?” Arthur teased as he ran his fingers through Merlin’s curls.

The dark-haired man chuckled. “Yeah, well you were,” he said and then pressed a lazy kiss against Arthur’s lips.

Arthur hummed into the kiss. When they parted, they both smiled fondly at one another.

Merlin stroked Arthur’s cheek and bit his lip. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” And Arthur meant it. There was nothing he wanted to keep from him, from the man who was his heart.

“The other morning did you mean it?” Merlin stared at his thumb as he continued to stroke Arthur’s cheek, “Did you mean it when you said, ‘love you too?’”

The words sent a quiet shock through Arthur. A hitch in his breath. Arthur had known in the back of his head that Merlin would eventually ask about it, yet somehow it had still surprised him.

Arthur reached up and placed his hand over Merlin’s on his face and said softly, “Yes.”

When Merlin kissed him this time it reminded him a bit of their first kiss. It was like a peek into a blissfully happy future except that future was taking shape now. However, if their first kiss felt like something, they had done a thousand times before then this kiss, strangely enough, felt like the very first one.

As they pulled away, Merlin whispered, “Say it.”

“I love you, you daft man,” Arthur said, his heart beating rapidly at what he knew was coming next.

“I love you too, cabbage head,” Merlin answered with a honeyed smile.

They both laughed, holding each other close as they bashed in the sweetness of their first morning as a couple.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I'm going to confess that I had WAY too much fun having Arthur talk to Morgana & Gwaine, the two people who would enjoy messing with him the most while Merlin got a nice chat with the supportive friends XD


End file.
